Before we even look at why she claims this to be the true cause for the attention, let us take a look at Rachel’s background.From her about section:

“Rachel is a sociology professor who lives and blogs in the New York City metro area. Her research and teaching focus on race, African American Studies, gender, sexuality, and popular culture.”

I bring this up so we understand where Rachel is coming from when she makes her statements.That said, let’s take a look at why she says this is about interracial sex.

Rachel wanted to see what people were thinking, and this is where she make her very first substantial comment case:

“I went around to a few blogs, and I visited AOL Blackvoices and a couple white supremacist message boards to see what they were saying, and quite frankly it was horrible….I can’t tell you how many racist and misogynistic comments I read; and not surprisingly the white supremacists were giddy over this case.”

So wait, were you looking for a general view of what society was thinking about this murder investigation or were you looking for the most extreme opinions of what the fringe of society was thinking?I mean, did you truly expect to see white supremacists says anything less than happy about this?

How many expected mother websites did you visit to see their reactions?How many forums focused on Grandmothers did you visit?How many law enforcement forums did you visit?Were they all saying the victim was “white trash”?Better yet, did you look at any Media blogs or forums, and if so, how many of them were talking about it as an interracial sex issue?

The piece of evidence she points out is the Christopher Vaughn murder story (which I spoke about a few days back). While the case was equally graphic and disturbing, it hardly had any coverage in the nation media.And this where Rachel makes her claim:

“I agree that white women victims get much more attention than Black, Asian, Latino, and American Indian women, and I agree that race is a big factor in the media attention the case has gotten, but I would be more specific than Terrence. It’s about interracial sex.”

Again, wait, what?

She then goes one to say:

“Interracial crimes make big sensational news stories, but crimes that involve interracial sexuality arouse the deepest passions of American bigotry. The OJ Simpson case, the Duke Rape, the Kobe Bryant rape case, and now this one–they all have tremendous sexual overtones.”

So, the OJ Simpson was given the attention because of interracial sex?Not the fact that a former Football superstar was involved?Not the fact that the crime was so severe?Not because the actual trial became a circus?

The Duke rape case was about interracial sex?You mean the attention wasn’t due to the fact that the case involved a major, and well respected, institution of higher learning or because of a sports team?You mean that it wasn’t because a number of people allegedly involved in the crime?You mean that it wasn’t because of the politics of the prosecutor?

Also, the Kobe Bryant case didn’t get the attention because he is a superstar or because he tried to hid the event?You mean it wasn’t because of the infidelity he committed?

Nope, according to Rachel – these all got the attention because of the interracial sex.

This is where things get really interesting.Rachel points to her own website, and it’s traffic, as proof that society is obsessed with race and sex.You know what, that very well may be the case.We me be obsessed with it, we may be obsessed with race and sex but that does not mean we are obsessed with both topics concurrently.

She then goes to show some of the searches ran on her site:

black men impregnating white women stories

savages on blondes

Biracial family pictures black and white

BLACK ATHLETE MARRYING WHITE WOMEN

Black men breeding white girls

black negro slave woman naked pictures

black women with white men in adult movies

differences between white and black women’s breasts

blacks in bed sexing

george lucas in love black women

how do you feel about interracial relationship

So, as you already established you are researcher and teacher who focuses on race, African American Studies, gender, sexuality, and popular culture.You run a website that focuses on these very same topics.What kind of searches did you expect to have?Did you expect people looking for information on the rain in Texas or the wildfires out west?No, you are going to get searches that relate to the topic on your site!

The search request that are more sexual, that is to say “blacks in bed sexing” are, most likely, people who came to your site thinking it was a porn site and wanted to find things that related to their fetish.

Here is why the case received so much attention – the son.The impact of the comments he made to his grandmother “Mommy was crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy’sin rug.”

This is the comment that was said over and over and over.The news pounded this into our heads from the very beginning and was closely followed by the fact that the woman was pregnant and was due any day. The ex-boyfriend wasn’t a suspect in the beginning and wasn’t even mentioned until several days later.

What I think we have here is some who is too close to a topic – someone who can no longer see the forest from the trees – and is drawing a conclusion based on her biased opinion.

For the record, my very first reaction was “it’s Lacey Peterson all over again”.I *NEVER* thought about this topic being a racial issue until I read Rachel’s view.

Over the last few days there have been reports of Iran venturing into Iraq, but the story was not really picked up by the media. One can guess that this is due to a lack a hard proof. As I went out looking for an update today to the situation, to see if there was any other information available, I found out that there is a great amount of unrest in recent days due to Iranian fuel rationing.

It seems that Iranian leadership didn’t give its citizens a lot of warning for the fuel rationing:

“Iranians were given only two hours’ notice of the move that limits private drivers to 100 litres of fuel a month.”

That’s roughly 26 gallons folks.As a result, people started to protest.Cars were burned and gas stations were set on fire.People even turned their aggression a supermarket and a financial institution. There is a lot of good coverage of this story on the web, if you are interested:

“Some MPs denied that the rioting on Tuesday and Wednesday had anything to do with the government’s rationing measures. “The attacks on the petrol pumps were organized well in advance by ‘agents provocateurs’ working for the US government, who incited some deranged individuals to set petrol stations alight,” Morteza Tamaddon told journalists.”

What is your first reaction to this comment?At first, it seems silly but at this point, it would not surprise me if something like this were to happen (quite frankly, not that it would be a bad thing either)

Not only did the accused killer allegedly kill his lover and unborn daughter, as well as have multiple children with different women out of wedlock, it looks like there are allegations that he was a child abuser – this from his 9 year old daughter.

You have to wonder what prison will be like, if this person is convicted…

If you no understanding of a topic, how are you going to relate to they topic?Yes, one can do their best to explain what a TV is, how a person interacts with the TV, and the potential pleasure and pains that can come from owning a TV, but if you have NEVER had the ability to actually see a TV there is no way you can truly understand the experience.The same can be said for many things, but this seems especially appropriate with sickness… like depression.

Depression, much like any experience, is different from person to person.Some people claim that depression causes them to be unable to sleep, others say there is a physical “heaviness” that can be felt in the body, and many others claim to have a sense of hopelessness or dread.In many cases, I’ have no doubt people experience these feelings in some combination and to varying degrees – along with many other sensations that I have even suggested.

I have close friends that were completely incapacitated by a bout with depress.They couldn’t go to work or interact with people. Daily life and activities became such a pain such a bother that, at the very basic level, their only concern was how they were going to make it to the next hour.Literally, they began to live life from hour to hour, situation to situation, in order to survive.

Listening to these individuals explain what they are feeling and hearing completely irrational thoughts from highly educated people is scary.As you have conversations with someone afflicted with depression you begin to see that the person you are talking to is almost a shell of who they once were.I can have sympathy for what they are going through, I can offer to assist in any way, but they have become someone different, if only for a time being.They have become someone I cannot relate to… and that is the point.

If you haven’t experienced it first hand, for yourself, you cannot truly say what the experience is.And, if you can talk about the experience first hand you should not pass judgment on the condition.